Astros name Brent Strom pitching coach

Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Houston Astros have named former major
league left-hander Brent Strom pitching coach, his second stint with the team
in that position.

Pat Listach has been hired as first base coach, Craig Bjornson as bullpen
coach and Ralph Dickenson as assistant hitting coach, the Astros announced
Tuesday.

Dave Trembley will return as Houston's new bench coach, Eduardo Perez will
return as the third base coach and Dan Radison was named a special assignment
coach.

The moves came three weeks after the team moved pitching coach Doug Brocail to
a special assistant position for general manager Jeff Luhnow and said it would
not renew the contracts of first base coach Dave Clark and bullpen coach
Dennis Martinez.

Strom, 65, spent the past two years as minor league pitching coordinator for
the St. Louis Cardinals. Before that, he was their minor league pitching
instructor for four seasons.

Strom was 22-39 with a 3.95 ERA for the Mets, Indians and Padres from 1972-77.
He was Houston's pitching coach in 1996 after serving as minor league pitching
instructor since 1989. He was the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals
from 2000-01 and has also spent time with the Padres and Expos/Nationals
organizations.

Trembley, the former Orioles manager, had been Houston's third base coach but
will now be manager Bo Porter's bench coach.

Listach, 46, played for the Brewers for five years before spending his final
MLB season with the Astros in 1997 and hit .251 in 503 games. He was minor
league infield coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year and had also
coached on staffs for the Cubs and Nationals.

Bjornson, 44, was Houston's bullpen coach in 2012 and was a roving pitching
instructor for the team this past season. Dickenson, 65, was the club's minor
league hitting coordinator this past season.